Hurt
Section 319 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 deals with hurt. Whoever causes bodily pain, disease or infirmity to any person is said to cause hurt. The Act came into force on 01 Jan 1862. Repealed by section 358 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (45 of 2023) with effect from 1 July 2024, but conduct before that date is still charged, tried and appealed under it.
Whoever causes bodily pain, disease or infirmity to any person is said to cause hurt.
Section 319, The Indian Penal Code, 1860 (Act 45 of 1860).
Now in the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita
BNS 114 Hurt Text carried over almost unchanged 100%
Measured by comparing the text of the two provisions, not taken from an official correspondence table — there is no machine-readable one. See both texts side by side before relying on it.
Both regimes are live. The repealed enactment still governs what happened while it was in force. We never redirect one to the other.
Related judgements & precedents
These are some judgments that construed this section, and hold precedence value. They hold authority on how to read, interpret and use this section.
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Ramesh Chandra Vaishya v. State of Uttar Pradesh
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
IPC s.319 defines hurt as causing bodily pain, disease or infirmity; a s.323 prosecution cannot continue where FIR/charge-sheet omit nature of hurt and medical support, and investigation completed in a day without eye-witnesses beyond family. SC/ST Act 3(1)(x) also fails without public-view and caste-laced insult particulars.
On this section: s.319 — definition of hurt applied to test s.323 charge; nature of hurt/medical particularisation required
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Badrinarayana Jaganathan vs The State of Karnataka
Court's Decision & Legal Precedent
Criminal proceedings initiated on allegations that fail to disclose prima facie ingredients of the offences charged, where the underlying dispute is fundamentally civil in nature (employment termination), and where procedural irregularities and discrepancies suggest deliberate misclassification of the matter to transform a civil dispute into criminal proceedings for purposes of coercion or settlement, constitute an abuse of legal process and travesty of justice warranting quashing of the chargesheet and proceedings under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. The essential ingredients of criminal offences must be strictly established: Section 323 requires voluntary act of causing actual hurt; Sections 504 and 509 require specific intentional insult with contextual details and intent to provoke or shock sense of decency; Section 506 requires threat with intent to cause alarm, not mere assertion of consequences of lawful termination. Mere allegations without substantiation of these ingredients do not justify continuation of criminal proceedings.
On this section: Definition of hurt - bodily pain, disease, or infirmity - examined to determine if voluntary act of causing hurt was established
The holding above is the ratio decidendi as extracted from the judgment by eCourts India, reproduced unaltered — it is a rendering of the court's reasoning, not a substitute for its words. Read the order itself before relying on it.
Questions about Section 319
What have the courts held on Section 319 of the Indian Penal Code?
Ramesh Chandra Vaishya v. State of Uttar Pradesh (19 May 2023) is the leading judgment on this section among those set out below: s.319 — definition of hurt applied to test s.323 charge; nature of hurt/medical particularisation required. Another 1 judgment on this section is set out below, all of them from the Supreme Court. They run from 2023 to 2025.
How do I find court cases under Section 319 of the Indian Penal Code?
In judgments and charge sheets this section is written several ways, and each form finds a different set of orders. These search the full text of every order eCourtsIndia holds, best matches first: IPC 319, section 319 IPC, section 319 of the Indian Penal Code. People searching for it also type ipc 319 in bns and ipc 319 2 in hindi. Each opens the full list of orders on eCourtsIndia, where it can be narrowed by court, year and outcome. 2 reported judgments on this section are set out on this page, beginning with Ramesh Chandra Vaishya v. State of Uttar Pradesh (19 May 2023).
What should I read with Section 319 of the Indian Penal Code, and has it changed?
For anything done on or after 1 July 2024 the provision to read is BNS 114 (Hurt), which replaced it; conduct before that date is still charged, tried and appealed under this section.
When did Section 319 of the Indian Penal Code come into force?
Section 319 of the Indian Penal Code, cited as IPC 319, came into force on 01 Jan 1862, having been enacted on 06 Oct 1860. It is no longer in force.
Other sections of this Act
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- 378. Theft980 words
- 108. Abettor745 words
- 403. Dishonest misappropriation of property727 words
Source and method. Compiled from the enactments of Parliament and of the State legislatures as published on India Code, and republished together with commentary and other original matter under section 52(1)(q)(ii) of the Copyright Act, 1957. Structured, cross-referenced and maintained by eCourtsIndia. Recovered from the consolidated text published by India Code (item 7b7d4fe6-206b-4e33-81f1-b98b018acaf6). This page is not a substitute for legal advice.